The Black Moon Alchemist
by BlackmoonAlchemist
Summary: In which another mary-sue enters a fandom. Rewritten and reposted elsewhere
1. Merryn

_I'm gonna become a state alchemist!_

Why had I ever thought that? When I was a little kid, alchemy had been my favorite pastime. My mother, who died when I was very young, had been a skilled alchemist and I had obviously inherited it. Dad was just a clumsy, blundering dolt that couldn't make a transmutation circle work to fix a stick. But even if he couldn't apply it, he knew the principle of alchemy better than anyone I knew. I grew up learning alchemy from Dad and he often told me I was almost better than my mom. I loved to perform alchemy for him, because it made him happy that his theories would work and it reminded him of my mom. He always said I looked like her, same brown hair, same green eyes, same small nose, and same kick-ass attitude when I was angry.

Dad and I liked to experiment with alchemy, bending the circles in ways that probably shouldn't have been attempted. Three times we very nearly destroyed our house. I was never really sure why Dad liked tampering with the circles and I new that for the most part, his alterations were possibly dangerous. But I was just as curious as him to see if his theories were correct. Most of the time, they ended with some sort of explosion (usually singing some part of my body). Dad would always laugh (after making sure I wasn't hurt) and say, "Well, that one didn't work, Merryn. Let's try a different one".

As the years went by with our experiments, rumors reached of us state alchemists. Most of them were rude remarks about "dogs of the military" but a few (and these were the ones I listened to) told us of their courage and alchemy skills. I was eight when I first told Dad I wanted to be a state alchemist. His eyes wavered between pride and sorrow. He asked me why and I told him, "State alchemists protect the people. You always told me to use my abilities to defend those who are weaker than me. When I become a sate alchemist, I'll be able to do that." I was so naïve. Many people in the small town we lived in tried to discourage my dream but I was set in my ways and since Dad encouraged me to go at it, I ignored the townsfolk.

When I was thirteen, Dad and I stumbled across a new form of alchemy circles. Well, it was really just one circle. Dad had me try it out and when I successfully transmuted something with it, Dad, one got completely high from his accomplishment, and two, tried a slightly altered from but with the same principle. It didn't work. He tried several different ways but only our first circle worked out.

With my new alchemy, and a years worth of practice with it, I went off to Central. I got my state alchemist license within two months. The fuehrer happened to be there when I was being tested and he was amazed at my abilities, comparing me with "that shrimpy kid, Fullmetal". His statement seemed to have motivated the higher ups on where I was to be stationed. With my silver watch came my new name and superior.


	2. Meeting the Elrics

(A/N: Hey, it's me, Takara. Sorry the first chapter more or less sucks. This next chapter should be marginally better. Ed and Al show up and you learn some more about Merryn. Hope you enjoy it! (my beginnings are always slow but once I get in, the story gets a lot better… so shovel through the next few chapters please! And R&R plz!))

"The Black Moon Alchemist," Mustang said, gazing lazily at my paperwork. "Qualified at fourteen… Damn fuehrer recruits the youngest kids," he mumbled under his breath. "Well, Black Moon, it seems we don't have much for you to do here. Some paperwork, maybe…" Mustang looked at the large pile stacked on his desk with a hopeful expression. Then his gaze returned to what I assumed was my written part of my exam and he frowned. "We'll have to work on your calligraphy."

I blushed, smiling sheepishly. Even my dad, who had chicken scratch handwriting, had gotten onto me about _my_ penmanship.

"Let's see, what to do with another teenager…" Mustang murmured, tapping his chin with a pen.

"Colonel!"

I turned in my seat to see a young, blond haired woman walk into the office. She glanced at me as she passed my chair and then placed a folder on the colonel's desk. "This just arrived sir," she said.

"Thank you, First Lieutenant." He set my folder aside and picked up the new one. His eyebrows disappeared under his shaggy bangs. "Hmm. It seems there is a job here for you." A grin spread across Mustang's face as he looked up at me and I could have sworn it was evil.

I sat awkwardly on the park bench. I sat next to a huge, heavily muscled man Mustang had introduced as Major Armstrong. For some strange reason, he had torn off his shirt when we'd first met… I was still a little freaked out. I peeked up at him as we waited. He looked down at me and grinned. "So you are a new alchemist, Merryn?"

"Uh, yeah," I answered, shifting uncomfortably. Like that wasn't blindingly obvious.

"Hmm. You are young. But you must be very good at alchemy to have become a state alchemist."

"Uh, yeah." I was just full of witty repartee today.

"Ah, here they come." Armstrong stood up and I uncertainly followed suit. Walking up to us were two people. One was wearing a huge, seven-foot suit of armor. The other, shorter one wore black and a red jacket, his white-gloved hands thrust into his pockets. His golden eyes grew wide with fear as he caught sight of the major. He said something to the armored person accompanying him and they both laughed.

"Elric brothers," Armstrong said, saluting the two when they were closer. I stood beside the major, uncertain as to what to do. "Merryn," Armstrong turned to me. "This is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and his brother, Alphonse."

My eyes grew wide. Mustang had glazed over my assignment, just that I was meant to accompany some one. I was meeting the Fullmetal Alchemist, the youngest ever to qualify for a state alchemist. I held out my hand in greeting to the shorter one. He seemed taken aback by my gesture. Then, a smile grew on his face. "YES!" he cheered. He grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. "Some one finally recognized _me_ as the Fullmetal." I grinned as my arm was very nearly shaken out of its socket.

"Well, Alphonse looks to old to be the youngest state alchemist to qualify," I said.

Edward let go of my hand and glared at me. "I'm the oldest," he growled.

"Oh," I said. "Sorry, it's just that you're so much shor—"

Armstrong's hand clamped over my mouth before I got the rest of the word out. "Stand back," he whispered in my ear.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL!?" Ed screamed at me. Al held him back as he kicked and punched in my direction.


	3. To Rush Valley

"So you're a state alchemist?" Ed asked. He looked at me skeptically. "You're awful young."

"So were you when you first became a state alchemist," I said, looking him straight in the eye. I was the same height as him, a fact that both irked and satisfied him; I couldn't call him short but he was older than me and should be taller.

Al, Ed and I were in Mustang's office, alone. Armstrong had been called on another assignment a few minutes ago and had left us here (after nearly crushing Ed in a goodbye hug). Mustang had disappeared somewhere and had yet to show up. Ed sat in Mustang's chair, his feet propped up in the same fashion as the colonel when he's putting off paperwork. Al sat on the small couch against the wall. I stood awkwardly by the window; it was amazingly clean.

Ed began opening the drawers of Mustang's desk.

"Edward!" I exclaimed as Ed began flipping through some files.

"What?" he asked, not looking up from the papers. "That lazy ass colonel hasn't done any paperwork for a month. It's a wonder why the idiot's as high ranked as he is."

"You probably shouldn't be going through Mustang's files, Brother," Al said. "It's invasion of privacy—"

"NO FRIGGIN' WAY!" Ed slammed a stack of papers on the desk. "That idiot can't be serious!"

"What is it?" I asked, looking over Ed's shoulder.

"The colonel… has assigned us to be your babysitter." Ed growled through clenched teeth.

"And that's a problem?" I asked, offended.

"Not all of it," Ed grumbled, "They're sending us off to Rush Valley. Apparently, they need the help of some alchemists… Dammit, bet the colonel did that on purpose."

"What's wrong with Rush Valley?" I asked.

"Two things, really," Al explained to me.

"Three!" Ed corrected. His head was down on Mustang's desk.

"Three? Oh, yeah," Al continued. "Our friend, Winry, lives there."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" I asked.

"Wait until you meet Winry," Ed said, his voice muffled by the desk. "She's gonna kill me. My arm got busted a little in East City a while ago…" He shuddered.

"Your arm?" I looked at him quizzically. His gold eyes looked at me and then he shrugged. He removed the glove on his right hand. His metal hand glittered in the sunlight coming through the window. "Wha- what happened to your hand?" I stammered.

"It's not just my hand," Ed explained. "It's my whole right arm. And my left leg, too. There was a skirmish near our hometown during the East Area Civil War."

"Oh. So… Winry's your mechanic?" My eyes lingered on Ed's hand until he pulled his glove back on.

"Yep." Ed returned his head to the desk.

"So what are the other two reasons Rush Valley's bad?" I looked to Al.

"It's crawling with Automail mechanics," Al told me. "They'll mob you if you have even an Automail finger."

"It's a total nightmare," Ed grumbled.

"And the third problem…" Al paused before he went on. "It's really close to Dublith."

"And the problem with Dublith is…?"

"Our master lives there."

"You've lost me again."

"Master has a tendency to kick our butts every time we visit her," Ed said. "So going to Rush Valley is—"

"A better idea than staying in my chair much longer, Fullmetal." We all jumped as Mustang's voice came from the office doorway. Ed slowly got out of the chair and went to the other side of the desk. I followed behind him. Mustang walked past us and frowned as he saw the files on his desk.

"Well, your prying has probably told you what your new assignment is." Mustang sat down and crossed his fingers together, leaning his elbows on his desk. "You'll meet up with another alchemist there. Fullmetal." Mustang's dark eyes bored down on Ed. "Merryn has no field training. This is her first assignment. I'm counting on you—for some reason—not to do anything stupid. So at the very least, don't get her killed."

A chill ran up my spine; the colonel wasn't joking.


	4. The Living Stone Alchemist

(A/N: Hey again! Sorry for the not too great beginning. From here out it gets a bit more interesting… I think. New oc to be introduced this chapt!)

I wanted so badly to strangle the little shrimp. Ed was annoying. He griped most of the time to Al, which was better than him griping to me. If that had happened, I might have punched him. About three people were nearly beat to a pulp when they called Ed small. The train ride seemed to drag on and on as Ed droned about something I never really listened to. My eyes began to droop as the train rocked gently on its way to Rush Valley.

"I don't like it," Ed said. He and Al thought I was asleep. "The fuehrer is recruiting kids… That creep is defiantly up to something."

"He is a homunculus," Al whispered. "They're probably just desperate to get new alchemists recruited." I stiffened at Al's words. A homunculus?!

"She could get herself killed, hanging out with us." Ed was silent for a moment. "That's probably why they made her Mustang's subordinate… Are they planning for her to die?" Sweat trickled down my cheek. What were those two talking about? President Bradley was trying to get me killed? He was a homunculus? Those things were real?

I decided eavesdropping was a bad thing to continue so I slowly "woke up". "Are we in Rush Valley yet?" I asked, yawning.

"No," Al said. "But we're close." He and Ed struck up a new conversation, something about Winry, so I was left to gaze out the window. Again. The desert landscape sped past as the train rumbled on. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I felt someone gazing at us. Turning around, I looked for the source of the feeling. A newspaper moved up to cover the face of a person with a hat. I watched the person for a while but the newspaper didn't move again.

"Merryn?"

I turned back as Al called my name. He and Ed were standing up. I hadn't noticed the train had stopped. I stood up to, grabbed my bag, and followed after the brothers.

Rush Valley was hot and crowded. Definitely not my sort of town; I lived in a small town near Briggs. Ed reluctantly took off his jacket in the heat. We were set upon almost immediately.

"Let me fix your automail!"

"I'll give you a discount!"

"I have the cheapest prices!"

"Back off, vultures!" Ed exclaimed, clapping his hands together. His metal arm grew a sharp blade that sent the begging mechanics scurrying. Ed smiled smugly but didn't change his arm back.

"You did that without a circle!" I exclaimed. Ed glanced at me.

"How else do you think I qualified at twelve?" he asked, looking back ahead of him.

"How did you do that?" I asked. "My dad and I have been tampering with circles for years to make the perfect circle but you just did alchemy without a circle at all!"

"It's a long story," Ed mumbled. "Some other time, maybe." I felt like they were hiding something from me and I suddenly remembered a rumor I'd heard back at Central. A lot of the officers at Central didn't think Ed was human. They'd witnessed his alchemy; they didn't trust him. But none of them really did trust alchemists…

The alchemist we were to meet up with was easy to find. She was dressed in military uniform.

"Oh great," Ed said as we approached the woman. "It's the Living Stone alchemist."

"Major Fullmetal alchemist, sir!" the woman said, saluting to us. "And Alphonse Elric!"

Ed rolled his eyes and I thought I heard a small laugh from Al. The woman was stiff and serious and I tried so hard to hold back a laugh. Not even Kain Fuery acted this tense when we had first met (and Kain had been nervous that time).

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel," Ed said, scratching the back of his head. "Merryn, this is Lieutenant Colonel Sumner, the Living Stone alchemist."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Major Black Moon alchemist!" Sumner saluted to me. Major? I bit my tongue; she was making it way to hard not to laugh. "As Major Elric has said, I am Lieutenant Colonel Summer Sumner. I am to assist you both in an investigation."

"What the hell happened here?"

It was a gruesome bloody mess that met us behind a temporary canvas tent. A few police were stationed at the entrance and a few people looked curiously at the tent as they walked by. Sumner led us into the tent and without preamble, threw a canvas sheet aside. I gagged at the horrible sight. Two bodies were twisted together in a grotesque way; the limbs were in the wrong places, the skin was fused together, and dried blood covered everything within a two-foot radius. The dead eyes of the poor humans were glazed over, wide with fear.

"What the hell happened?" Ed asked again, gazing at the horrible thing in front of us.

"That's what we're here to find out," Sumner said, replacing the sheet over the bodies. "This… these bodies were found last night. They're the third to be found in a month. You recognize what it is, right, Fullmetal?"

"Yeah." Ed bent his head. "A human transmutation."


	5. Let's Go Meet Winry

Three, no six, bodies had been found in Rush Valley. They had all been twisted through alchemy. The police had kept it pretty quiet, but rumors were beginning to spread through the town that another serial killer was on the loose.

I sat outside the tent, holding my head between my knees. The sight of those twisted bodies made me light headed with nausea. The image haunted me, striking a cord somewhere inside me and I didn't know why. Inside the tent, I heard Ed and Al talking to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Does any one know who did this?" Al asked.

"No. In each case, some one stumbled across the twisted forms and reported them."

"It's definitely alchemy," Ed said. "But there's no sign of a transmutation circle. Why would someone want to do this?"

"Again, we don't know much about this. That's why they called in the help of alchemists. Speaking of which…"

I heard footsteps approach and slowly looked up in time to see Sumner stick her head out of the tent. She smiled and walked over to me. "Are you doing ok?"

I nodded. "Sorry. I guess I don't do well with blood." Sumner turned to one of the police nearby. As she talked to him about some security problem, I leaned closer to the tent, listening in on Ed and Al's conversation.

"Brother, do you think this was to bring back—"

"No," Ed interrupted Al. "It wouldn't have ended up like this. It looks like some one tried to fuse the bodies together… Why?"

"Do you want to help us now?" Sumner's voice broke through my eavesdropping. I nodded and stood up. Inside the tent, the twisted bodies had been covered by the tarp again.

"Lieutenant Colonel, have you used your alchemy yet?" Ed asked when we walked in. Sumner shook her head.

"I was waiting for you to come," Sumner said. "Analyzing the clues requires another alchemist. I can only bring it back."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot, you haven't seen the lieutenant colonel's alchemy, have you?" Al said. I shook my head. "She's called the living stone alchemist for a reason. She can bring back pieces of evidence that have otherwise disappeared."

"How does that work?" I asked.

"Watch." Al pointed at Sumner.

Sumner inhaled and with drew three shruiken. She threw them onto the ground in a line in front of her. Then she moved on to the bodies and drew out five more throwing stars, surrounding the tarps with a circle. "Stand back!" Sumner placed her hands on the ground in front of the line of shruiken. A flash of yellow light resulted in a rumble of earth. A dark circle appeared on the ground near the shruiken, a large transmutation circle. Two bloody footprints materialized, running away from the rest of the blood.

"I've never seen this circle before," Ed said, looking down at the dark markings. Al looked at the footprints of blood. I went over to Ed and looked over his shoulder at the circle. The symbols brought back a memory of when I was young. I had snuck into my father's study, a part of our library I was not allowed into alone. I had been looking for a book and found an old tome on his desk. I'd been about eight and had thought it was ok to read through it. The first page I flipped to was covered in many different types of circles. My father had caught me before I had read any farther and had scolded me fiercely; it was the only time he had ever yelled at me. He put the book up and it was then that I noticed the title of the book. _CHIMERA_.

"_I_'ve seen it," I said, crouching to look closer at it. "It's a circle for creating Chimeras. But why would some one try to apply it to humans?"

Ed looked at me. "Chimeras? You're sure?"

"Yeah, I've seen these symbols before in one of my dad's books. But I don't think it was supposed to fuse two humans together. It doesn't work that way." I saw shock spread across Ed's face. "What?"

"How do you know so much about chimeras?" he asked.

"Do you mind hurrying up with this?" Sumner interrupted. "I can't keep this going much longer."

"Oh, sorry, Lieutenant Colonel," Ed said, standing up. "You can stop now. I think we have a lead." He gave me a meaningful look. Sumner took her hands away from the shruiken. She seemed exhausted as she sat back on the ground.

"That was incredible," I said, pulling one of the stars from the ground. I looked at it and saw transmutation circles, one carved onto the side of each point. "How exactly does this work?"

Sumner looked up at me a smiled. "I can make rocks act like humans, bringing back "memories", if you will. Anything that happens to a rock can be brought back through a certain formula. The stones "remember" things. At least, that's what I tell anyone superstitious enough to believe me. It's just a matter of bringing back the small pieces left behind and expounding upon them. "

"Mer, you were talking about Chimeras," Al said, looking away from the fading footprints.

"Yeah, my dad had a book on them. I didn't get to read much; he took it away from me. But I saw a circle like the one here. And I'm pretty sure that the fusing of two creatures doesn't work when you try to combine two of the same kind." I looked at the dried blood that peaked out from under the tarp.

"So someone was stupid enough to try and combine _humans_?" Sumner asked, looking up at us.

"Looks like it," Ed said. "And now that we know _what_ these people are doing, we need to know… _why_?"

"Let's take a break," I suggested. "We can go find your friend, if you want."

"Oh yeah, you just want to get me killed, don't you?" Ed grimaced.

"Let's go see Winry," Al said happily. "You promised her last time we'd check up on her if we ever came this way again. Besides, you need her to fix your arm."

"Fine," Ed growled. "Just make sure she stays away from my funeral."

Ed and Al stopped in front of a small, two-story building. They stood there, not moving.

"Aren't you going to knock?" I asked when Ed and Al remained still.

"You know, we should probably get back to the Lieutenant Colonel," Ed said, turning around. A stupid grin was plastered on his face. "We need to get that investigation done and we're wasting time here."

"Come on, Brother." Al moved his arm to knock on the door. "It's Winry, not a demon."

"Is there a difference when she's pissed?" Ed muttered. "Hey, come on, Al, let's just go back." He pulled back on his brother's arm. "We don't have to let Winry know we're here!" Ed continued to pull on Al's arm and Al tried to pull it back.

"Let go, Ed!"

"Let's just go back! We don't need to see her!"

I rolled my eyes. Were they always like this? I hoped I wouldn't always be sent out with them on missions…

I stepped past them and knocked on the shop door. A blond haired girl opened it. Her hair was held out of her face by a red bandana. Her blue eyes took in the sight of Ed and Al and a smile spread across her face.

"Ed! Al!" She exclaimed. The two stopped fighting. "It's good to see you guys!"

"Hello, Winry!" Al said.

"Hi, Winry," Ed mumbled.

"Hey, who's your new friend?" Winry smiled at me.

"I'm Merryn," I said, smiling back.

"Are you Al's girlfriend?"

Al and I both started babbling at her question.

"Wha- what? No! I'm not his girlfriend! I barely know him!"

"No, she's not my girlfriend, Winry! We just met!"

Winry laughed. "I'm kidding. It was just a joke. So Ed-" Ed began sweating as Winry turned to him- "What brings you here?"

"Military business," Ed said, scratching the back of his head. His metal arm made an odd clanking noise as he did.

"Ed, you didn't break your arm again, did you?" Winry growled. She glared down at him.

"It might have gotten a few dents in it…" Ed smiled sheepishly.

A wrench flew from Winry's hand. "You idiot!"

(A/N: well, for some reason this chapter is a little longer than the others have been… why, I have no clue. From this point on I think this all gets better so thanx again for putting up with the crap before. If it gets worse, plz, let me know before I get an angry mob after me.)


End file.
